ˈbenˌrät-, -ȧt- noun
Usage: usually capitalized B
Etymology: translation of German benrather linie, from Benrath, Germany, near which the isogloss dividing High German machen “to make” from Low German maken crosses the Rhine
: one of a bundle of isoglosses crossing Germany roughly from Aachen and Düsseldorf to Frankfurt an der Oder and dividing High German to the south, with fricatives and affricates for proto-Germanic p, t, k, from the rest of the West Germanic speech area to the north and northwest, with proto-Germanic p, t, k remaining intact (as in E p i p e, tha t, t o, ma k e, contrasted with G pf ei f e, da s, z u, ma ch en)